Chapter 205 - 201: Gift Box_1

Translator: 549690339

Moreover, the Tiger Head Gang did not rely on intimidation and extortion for their livelihood. Their primary source of income was running gambling dens and brothels.

As for the thugs that showed up today, they were nothing but rogues exploiting the name of the Tiger Head Gang for their fraudulent activities.

Yingbao was very familiar with this, having fought twice with the gang leader’s youngest son in her previous life. Eventually, they buried the hatchet and openly became friends.

Another gang controlled the city, namely the Qinglong Gang, which monopolized the transportation of grain in canal terminals.

They mainly conducted their operations around the docks and didn’t conflict with the local townsfolk.

Living in the county town for many years, her aunt would undoubtedly be aware of this.

As for her sudden visit today, whether it was pure coincidence or something else, Yingbao didn’t want to speculate too much. After all, she was her father’s elder sister. Even if she had some ulterior motives, she likely wouldn’t dare to act too outrageously against her.

Jiang Yunniang pursed her lips and assertively said: “Won’t people talk?”

Yingbao did not respond. Instead she joined Eerni in cleaning up the shop’s trash.

Jiang Yunniang watched Yingbao for a while, then turned to take in the appearance of the shop.

The shop seemed to be in decent condition after the modifications, but it was a pity that it was being managed by a few children who didn’t know anything. What a waste.

“Dacheng, I believe that you wouldn’t need two shops. How about renting one out to Yukan? He can pay five hundred coins per month, what do you think?”

Jiang Cheng said: “Aunt, I am afraid, we can’t do that.”

“Why not? Your shop has had so many problems in just a few days of operation. If Yukan were here, these reckless thugs would at least show some respect. Leaving everything else aside, your uncle has been doing business in the county for many years – everyone on the street knows him. Even the second-in-command of the Tiger Head Gang has had several meals with your uncle.”

Jiang Yunniang said, “If our Yukan were here, what happened would not have happened.”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s brow furrowed tightly. “Aunt, are you implying, if we don’t rent out the shop to your Yukan, those hooligans will cause us trouble again?”

“Exactly,” Jiang Yunniang said: “You don’t know, but the thugs in the county town are very annoying…”

“Enough!” Jiang Cheng said, suppressing his anger to cut off her words, “Aunt you should go home, and don’t come here again. Our shop is not for rent!”

Jiang Yunniang was startled, quickly stood up and said angrily: “Are you trying to drive me away? Dacheng, are you actually driving your aunt away?”

Jiang Cheng, with a somber face, turned around and walked into the courtyard.

Jiang Yunniang was so enraged that her face turned bright red. Looking around, she had no place to vent her anger. So, she shouted, “Let’s see how long your shop can last!”

After dropping this cryptic sentence, Jiang Yunniang stormed out of the shop and headed home at a brisk pace.

Eerni watched her aunt leave and whispered to her younger cousin: “Yingbao, what does our aunt mean?”

She kept trying to persuade her older brother to let her son manage the shop, but still hoped that her nephew’s shop would not be successful.

Yingbao thought for a while and said: “I guess that there’s some problem with their shop and it’s probably difficult for them to keep it going.”

This would explain why she was trying to take over her shop. Only this reason seemed plausible.

Eerni realized and said in a low voice: “No wonder aunt borrowed money from grandma last year. I heard it myself, she borrowed fifty taels.”

Not only did she borrow money, but she also complained to grandma for a long time. However, Eerni didn’t dare to eavesdrop.

The next day, Bamboo Workshop delivered the customized bamboo boxes, a total of one hundred.

Yingbao and Eerni started packing candied fruit, one pound per box.

They weighed the candied fruit, wrapped it in wax paper, put it in the box, closed the lid, and then attached a written colored label to the lid.

“It looks so good when it’s packed like this.” Eerni praised while working, “It’s all thanks to your idea, Yingbao.”

“How much are we going to sell each box for?” Jiang Quan asked.

Yingbao calculated a bit, “For now, we will sell each box for 400 coins.”

Taking into account the cost of the candied fruit, the labour costs, and the cost of packing, they could probably make a profit of half the selling price.

If the business did well in the future, they could raise the price then.

“What about the golden fungus?” asked Jiang Quan.

Yingbao said: “These small boxes can only hold half a pound of golden fungus. We will sell it for ten taels a box.”

“What? Half a pound is ten taels, wouldn’t that mean a pound is twenty taels?”

After his initial excitement, Jiang Quan expressed his concern: “It’s so expensive, who will buy it?”

Yingbao said:”You don’t need to worry about that.”

If they can’t sell it, they’ll give it to Steward Zhou Mao. Otherwise, they could keep it in the storage house. They could keep it for quite some time, even sell it next year if needed, it wouldn’t be a waste.

The siblings packed all the preserved fruits into boxes, stored some in the shop and the rest in the back room.

Surprisingly, two people came in that day and bought several boxes of candied fruit to take away. They said they were taking them back to their hometown to give as gifts.

Jiang Quan was ecstatic and tugged at his cousin, asking: “Yingbao, what if we sell out all our candied fruits?”

At present, there were only about 200 pounds of preserved fruits left in their shop. Given the current trend, they would probably sell out within a month.

“When that time comes, we’ll buy some from the vendors. The fruit they sell is much cheaper than ours. We’ll just need to package it. But we must make sure to choose the ones that look good.”

Yingbao pointed to the packaging box, “Order another two hundred boxes, and ask the Bamboo Workshop to weave our shop’s name into the box with colored bamboo strips.”

In this way, the gift boxes will look a bit more refined.

“I get it!” Jiang Quan nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Cheng, who was on the side, said: “Our golden fungus and Xue’er fungus are about to be harvested soon. We might as well order some lacquer wooden boxes, which look more expensive and will make the golden fungus look more presentable.”

“Sure, big brother, whatever you think of, just go ahead and do it. When customizing, remember to have the shop’s name written on it.”

“Alright!”

Once they had finished discussing the details, the siblings began to divide up the tasks.

Jiang Quan went to scout out the market and bought some food items available that were easy to store. He put them in the bamboo boxes and added their shop’s labels.

Surprisingly, people actually came in to buy them, and some even bought several boxes at a time. It turned out they were all buying them to take back to their hometown.

Jiang Quan was thrilled. Like a shot of adrenaline, he vigorously went around the county town.

He bargained with bakery shops and packaged the goods in boxes with their shop’s labels after buying them.

In the following days, business in the shop suddenly picked up. They were able to sell dozens of boxes of various pastries and preserved fruits each day.

“The packaging really makes a difference. Ha ha ha!”

Jiang Quan laughed with satisfaction, continuously measuring and packing pastries.

Since Yingbao had neat and pretty handwriting, she took up the task of writing the product labels. By now, she already had more than a hundred labels written.

Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng was keeping the accounts.

Given the recent flurry of business, it was necessary to maintain accurate accounts, including an inventory and loss account.

As of now, they had no idea exactly how much they had earned. They’d have to wait until the end of the month to calculate that.

On this day, while Yingbao was writing labels in the backyard, she heard Eerni calling out: “Yingbao, that female patient is here!”

The female patient?

She almost forgot. It seemed like it was time for Gao Lifan’s daughter, Dongmei, to change her prescription.

Yingbao put down her pen, tidied up the product labels, got her medical kit on the table, and called to Eerni: “Please invite her in, sister.”

Eerni responded and told Zhang and her daughter Dongmei: “Come this way, my cousin will see you in the back room.”

“Yes.” Zhang helped her daughter Dongmei walk towards the backyard.

Upon seeing Yingbao, Dongmei bowed and greeted: “I am here for the young doctor’s follow-up consultation.”